Fresh Mint Tea

I love it when I'm traveling and I come across something so wonderful, yet so simple I can easily recreate it at home. That's how I'm feeling about fresh mint tea right now. In Amsterdam most cafes serve it.  It's so simple too- just a bunch of fresh mint steeped in hot water and it tastes amazing. I prefer it with a little honey.

This will definitely become a staple for me back in Seattle :) I feel like I might need to get some clear mugs though, part of the fun is how pretty it looks! 

Friday Roundup

Olá de Lisboa! Jason and I are in Lisbon, Portugal for a few days for a shoot. This is a beautiful city. I'm loving all of the color and painted tiles, but I think my favorite thing about Lisbon is the amazing seafood. And after the snow in Amsterdam last week, it's been lovely to be somewhere a bit warmer, sunnier and filled with sidewalk cafes.  

I want to make this, it looks healthy and amazing. 

Cheap travel destinations...well, let's call these relatively cheap.

A friend of mine started a food truck! If you're north of Seattle, check it out!

A different form of addiction. 

I'm into this black velvet ribbon look. 

I want to try these jeans. 

"Husbands are deadlier than terrorists"...as always Nick Kristof makes a great point and this is one of the best articles I've read all week. 

Today is #randomactsofkindnessday so show someone some love. 

New song from Ed

Photo of Lisbon via @jkoephoto 

Tile

Have you heard of Tile? It's one of those things that I thought everyone knew about, but I keep finding myself telling friends how amazing these are so I thought I should blog about it. Basically, it's just a little bluetooth chip thing that goes on you keys or in your wallet or on other things you might lose often, and when you can't find it, you just pull up the app on your phone and you can make the Tile beep so you can find it. Jason is constantly putting the car keys in weird places, in our bed, in the bathroom, etc. I'm more likely to just forget which purse I had the keys in last. Either way, problem solved.

Added bonus, say you have your keys, but you can't find your phone, just push on the Tile and it works in reverse and makes your phone beep. I can't tell you how much time these have saved me!

This isn't a paid advertisement, Tile didn't give me anything to do this post, but rather, I see it as a public service announcement :) save time and avoid having silly fights with your S.O. about who lost the keys and put a Tile on it. 

Thoughts on Love...

Happy Valentines Day!

I remember HATING this holiday in middle school and high school, when my friends had boys who liked them and I was so AWKWARD and thought no one would ever like me. I know I'm lucky that I didn't have to wait long and I met Jason when we were 18. Looking back on it, we were so young! For us, it worked that we grew up together. In some ways we have been very lucky, blessed (even though I feel cheesy using that word, it's true)  in other ways, we've worked hard at it! Regardless, at this point we've been together FOREVER so I feel like I actually have the qualifications to speak as somewhat of an expert on the topic of love.

The most important thing I could tell ANYONE about love is that it's not a feeling.

LOVE.
IS.
A.
CHOICE.

Love is waking up every morning and choosing to want to be with the person you're committed to, even if they're being grumpy. Because when it's love, you can trust that they'll do the same for you when the roles reverse. Love is a verb, it's an action and sometimes it's something you have to remind yourself to do when life isn't feeling like the ending of a rom com. Love is something you have to work at. Fluttery feelings come and go. Love sticks around.


Lastly, as much as I wish I could keep this entirely happy, I know that's not where everyone is at in their relationship. Some require more work, and some just won't work. If you're not feeling like the relationship you're in is the right place for you, to remember that sometimes we need to choose to love ourselves and sometimes walking away is the right answer. It takes two people choosing to love to make the relationship work.

Photo by Zoe Rain, Behind the Scenes on Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You"

Friday Roundup

Hello from a houseboat in Amsterdam! This is my view as I'm blogging this morning. That's the Mantelbaanstoren out the window. It's very chilly and starting to snow slightly. Jason and I are spending the month in Europe for a commercial project. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that we were in Lisbon the last few days and it was beautiful and sunny! A nice break from Seattle, whereas Amsterdam weather has me feeling right at home :)

I might try and really live like the Dutch and cook this and this on the houseboat this weekend.

I'm eying this sweater, looks like the perfect color & weight for going winter to spring.

This article is speaking to me right now.

A foster parent who's gone above and beyond- Teresa sent me this, a great read.

This lip balm is keeping my lips happy in all this winter weather.

A different take on Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" :)

I can't wait to get one of these rugs. 

Kate McKinnon as Ms. Frizzle? Yes please. (Teresa! Perfect for Mylo and all his questions!)

I'm loving Christina Ricci as Zelda Fitzgerald on Amazon Prime.

"The Only Three Things You Need to Clean Before Having People Over"

Washington Wine...just one of many awesome things about our home state right now.

Fiona Maeve: Seven and Eight Months

Fiona is now eight months old! Her little personality is starting to shine through and I seriously can't wait to get to know this little girl. Just this weekend she started to get the hang of gently petting Rafa and I could see the beginnings of a toddler emerging.

She continues to be a sweet, easy-going, roll with the punches baby. She is eating solids (loves mac n'cheese, cinnamon apples, peas, and baby mum mums), sitting up without support, and putting everything in sight in her mouth. She ADORES her big brother and Rafa, loves to laugh, enjoys having a lot of people around (I'm surrounded by extroverts!), and has a blast splashing in the bath with her big brother. She's not quite crawling and barely rolling over so we are trying to encourage her to start moving a bit more. That chill personality of hers isn't giving her much motivation! 

Love you sweet Fiona!

Also: Mylo wanted to get in on the fun:

Favorites: Winter 2017

It's been awhile since I've done one of these! Here's what I'm loving these days...

1. This card made by Iron Curtain Press, proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. I bought a bunch and have been mailing encouraging notes to friends :)

2. Evan Healy Rose Petal Hydrosol...this is perfect on fresh clean skin or on top of makeup.

3. I've been listening to a variety of podcasts lately...
This episode of "Modern Love"was great.
The Ruth Bader Ginsburg episode of "What It Takes" was very inspiring.
"This American Life" did an episode on the travel ban...I can't imagine how heartbreaking and frustrating this has been for those effected, but TAL did a great job of presenting one man's story.

4. Glossier's Boy Brow... This is the best brow product I've found. It's like all the best parts of every brow product rolled into one.  I bought it for my mom and sister for Christmas to share the love. PS. Use this link to get 20% off! 

5. Uggs... I've had one pair for 10 years, and as much as I'd like to spend my money on fun and fancy shoes, I finally broke down and bought a new pair and I'm so glad I did! I wear these daily in the winter. So perfect for going to and from yoga, wearing around the house when it is freezing and well, if you're me, wearing pretty much anywhere else too.

6. The books I've loved recently...
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline...this is like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Hunger Games with tons of 80's references mixed in.
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay...the label of "feminist" has always been intimidating to me, and it's refreshing to hear that from someone else as well.

Macklemore for Columbia

This video, directed by Jason and produced by yours truly came out last week and I forgot to share it with you all! We had so much fun working with Columbia this past fall and shooting up at Mt. Rainier. I love it when shoot days are a walk through the woods :) 

Friday Roundup

Happy Friday! It's been a long week for me with Patrick out of town and about a million things on my "to do" list. I'm ready for a relaxing weekend at home. What are you up to this weekend?

Here are some links to get us started:

Great list of movies for a rainy weekend.

Excited for this podcast!

LOVE Ellen.

Also, Drew on her show was pretty fantastic. Will you watch her new TV series?? I'm on the fence.

How to dress like a woman. 

Loving this Jungalow furniture.

This is more relevant than ever.

Truth.

Words to banish from your vocabulary.

(photo)

Black History Month

What Leslie Jones was saying on SNL last week really hit home with me. Just like her, the things I remember learning in school during Black History Month didn't go much beyond "I have a dream" and George Washington Carver. Why didn't we learn about the AMAZING women that the movie Hidden Figures is based on? Regardless of race, as a female who wasn't super into math, this could have been incredibly encouraging to me.

Last year, the NY Times published an interactive "Unpublished Black History" of never before seen photos from different moments in black history. It's a fascinating. Check it out.